John Murphy officially stepping down as Bills' play by play announcer

[Don Otreply]

Live well Murph, 🙏 

[Bill Lewes]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:42 AM, Back2Buff said:

How do people listen to football on the radio?  If I can't watch it, I ain't listening to it.

Apparently you aren’t old enough to have walked to school in the snow - uphill both ways …

Edited May 12 by Bill Lewes
missing word

[Matt_In_NH]

1 hour ago, Cash said:

 

Yeah, obviously TV is better than radio for experiencing a football game, but football (and baseball) has enough down time that a good announcer can paint a picture for you.  When I was a kid, my family's friend group would rotate who hosted for the Bills game every week, and we usually ran late.  I listened to Van Miller calling a lot of first quarters, and it was great!

 

Murphy (understandably) never got to Van Miller's level, but he did a real solid job.  Very good radio voice and cadence, which is probably the #1 thing.  Best wishes to Murphy and his family.

 

I've yet to hear any of Chris Brown's play-by-play, but I can't imagine it's any good.  As others have pointed out on this thread, he doesn't have the voice for it.  My vote goes to an outside hire for this one.

At one point in time in Buffalo they found Van Miller and RJ......whatever they did for those searches should be done now.

[Warcodered]

 

[krf139]

Feel awful about his health but was never a fan of his work 

[vincec]

12 hours ago, QB Bills said:

Per Bills Twitter. 

 

Sounds like he's still recovering from the stroke 

 

Wishing him the best. He had a bit of that old school football cadence that is in short supply these days. 

 

Really hoping the Bills upgrade from Chris Brown. That guy is awful. His ceiling should have been local high school football but he looks like he's not allowed within 500 yards of a school anyway.

 

 

If they give Murphy the job back right now, the ratings would double over Chris Brown. Heck, even I would tune in.

3 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

At one point in time in Buffalo they found Van Miller and RJ......whatever they did for those searches should be done now.

Arguably, the best tandem in the entire country.

[Jimmy Harris 69]

Best wishes Murph. I have a good thought for your continuing recovery. The Bills need a big league voice again. When one thinks about the historical broadcast standards set by van miller, Ted Darling and Rick Jeannette in Buffalo sports, ownership needs to do a credible search. I think about someone like Jack Micheals who does Edmonton games. Tremendous on air presence and voice. Chris Brown is a fine studio guy but a play by play man, he is not. Hopefully the Bills were only waiting out of deference to Murph, but will take action now. 

[Freddie's Dead]

After seeing the WBEN interview, it's clear that Murph's announcing days are over.  It's a shame, really.  We didn't know how good he was until he was gone.  All the best Murph.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

I can remember the last time I listened to a game on the radio. Cardale Jones was at QB and we lost to the Jets week 17 roughly 2016.

 

Does anyone listen to games anymore?

[gomper]

11 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

It's time to bring Greg Papa back home.

Omg.  Wouldn't that be fantastic.  Doubt he'd leave the Bay. After all these years, I don't think people realize how good he is. He grew up a huge Van fan. He is great. 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

Wishing him well in his recovery,as a stroke is a debilitating thing to have happen to you, but as an announcer and as a former colleague … meh 

6 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I can remember the last time I listened to a game on the radio. Cardale Jones was at QB and we lost to the Jets week 17 roughly 2016.

 

Does anyone listen to games anymore?

Only if I’m leaving a party or something at halftime, and I can’t get home before the start of the third quarter 

[Niagara Bill]

23 hours ago, Back2Buff said:

How do people listen to football on the radio?  If I can't watch it, I ain't listening to it.

It's an age thing. I am a little older and can actually listen to music without a video. I know that is hard to believe. 

[Sierra Foothills]

21 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

Time for Pegula to pony up some coin for a real, permanent, play by play guy with some talent.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Pegula went cheapo and continued to exploit the willing Chris Brown.

 

10 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I can remember the last time I listened to a game on the radio. Cardale Jones was at QB and we lost to the Jets week 17 roughly 2016.

 

Does anyone listen to games anymore?

 

My wife and I sometimes listen to the WGR feed over the internet just for old time's sake. We did it more frequently when Van was around.

 

19 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

It's time to bring Greg Papa back home.

 

 

7 hours ago, gomper said:

Omg.  Wouldn't that be fantastic.  Doubt he'd leave the Bay. After all these years, I don't think people realize how good he is. He grew up a huge Van fan. He is great. 

 

As a Bay Area resident I"m not a huge fan of Papa's work. He's super knowledgable but he's grown a bit pompous and self-important.

 

Also, he tries showing off too much of his football knowledge during the play by play. He overly describes in real time and clutters up the call with unnecessary ornamentation..

 

As an example, "The former walk-on from South Carolina makes the catch down the sideline against trips coverage for the first down!" would be his call DURING (not after) the play.

 

JMO.

 

[Irv]

Glad he is a) still alive, and b) can speak.  He did a great job following a legend.  Let's not forget, that he was great at color commentary with Van.  

[blitzboy54]

Murph was a mediocre radio play caller. Van was the gold standard and to have to follow him was always going to be an uphill fight.  Chris was fine for “break glass in case of emergency” but they really need to find a better voice. To be honest (I can’t believe I’m saying this) I wouldn’t mind hearing what Sal sounds like in the booth. 
 

Obviously we all wish Murph well 

Edited May 10 by blitzboy54

[gomper]

39 minutes ago, blitzboy54 said:

Murph was a mediocre radio play caller. Van was the gold standard and to have to follow him was always going to be an uphill fight.  Chris was fine for “break glass in case of emergency” but they really need to find a better voice. To be honest (I can’t believe I’m saying this) I wouldn’t mind hearing what Sal sounds like in the booth. 
 

Obviously we all wish Murph well 

Please. Listen to some of his HS football games. You think Chris is bad? Sal is a trainwreck. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 5/9/2024 at 6:47 AM, TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th said:

Agreed on Chris brown being awful. Not sure who is out there but hoping they choose someone better.

Yeah, Chris Brown is the worst. 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

20 hours ago, blitzboy54 said:

Murph was a mediocre radio play caller. Van was the gold standard and to have to follow him was always going to be an uphill fight.  Chris was fine for “break glass in case of emergency” but they really need to find a better voice. To be honest (I can’t believe I’m saying this) I wouldn’t mind hearing what Sal sounds like in the booth. 
 

Obviously we all wish Murph well 

Nooooooo!  Give me an AI announcer before I have to listen to Sal the Shill name drop, call everyone buddy, and opine endlessly about his adventures with Max 

On 5/9/2024 at 9:50 AM, Not at the table Karlos said:

I hope John continues to recover and lives a long life but he is not a good person. 

On a purely professional basis, I can agree.  Rarely enjoyed my professional interactions with him over the years, and I know I’m not alone in that

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

On 5/9/2024 at 1:44 PM, Chandler#81 said:

Never cared for him -except as Van’s sidekick. But the squeaky little girly-man has gotta Go too!

Could be worse … have you listened to Maddie Glab?

[Not at the table Karlos]

9 minutes ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

 

On a purely professional basis, I can agree.  Rarely enjoyed my professional interactions with him over the years, and I know I’m not alone in that

I don’t want to pile on him even though he was a complete POS to me when I had medical issues. But you’re not even close to alone.